Per Mertesacker is entrusted with the job of collecting fines from Arsenal players in breach of club discipline but the German may find himself going cap in hand to manager Arsene Wenger for his place in the team.

Shakhtar Donetsk 1 Manchester United 1: David Moyes' side held at the Donbass Arena

There was a smirk or two on Wednesday evening when David Moyes cited his time at Preston North End among the body of work which demonstrated how he could dig a way out of the dark tunnel he seems to be stumbling through, in these difficult early days at Manchester United.

The sarcastic riposte being that the only remote relevance of Deepdale to the Old Trafford story was that the five-game proving ground it offered David Beckham before he returned to his natural domain.

But the new manager did indeed return to some of the proletarian basics. You might say that this was a quintessential Moyesian performance: full of the work ethic and spirit which we have come to expect from his teams. And lest that sound like a statement which damns the new manager with faint praise, it should also be said that this was a display far more reflective of England’s champions than the dismal performances United delivered on the continent in either Braga, Cluj nor Galatasaray last season.

That United should have led for nearly an hour and not walked away with a win created an unmistakeable sense of dejection as the players’ trooped from the field, but it was the first point an English side has taken from here in a Champions League visit.

The huge image of a miner lifted over the supporters of this coal city before the match was a metaphor for what Moyes’ players delivered. Nemanja Vidic was foremost among them, though Moyes too seemed to play every pass. There have been times during these wretched last few weeks when he has retired to his dug-out seat, seemingly bereft of ideas. On the touchline, he seemed to be living and breathing the task in hand.

Yaroslav Rakitskiy contributed handsomely to Welbeck’s goal with a dreadfully hashed clearance. But the finished also attested to the possibility that the 22-year-old is finding the flow of goals which have been lacking. That was his third of the season, taking him one ahead of last season’s too modest tally.

The Ukrainian side were a disappointment overall. But the two United bookings inside the first quarter hour of the second half – Nemanja Vidic and Fellaini – reflected renewed Ukrainian urgency after the break. Fellaini, leading with the arms which get him into trouble, was quickly substituted for his own good.

Van Persie collected another rare chance, spinning around a low cross from Rafael to find a shot which Rakitskiy made a better hash of and blocked. But for once, on 73 minutes, United found a run through their midfield they could not stem. Rakiskiy provided it, atoning for his earlier error to drill a hard ball from the left which Vidic could only clear straight into the path of Taison, who thumped it past de Gea to equaliase.

There were some desperate minutes before the end. Taison’s shot from the acute angle was touched athletically over the bar by de Gea as the cauldron that Shakhtar manager Mircea Lecuscou had promised materialised.

But United held on. Four points from the double-header to follow against Real Socieded may be enough after the Spaniards’ defeat at Bayer Leverkusen. The group’s toughest match on paper has been negotiated. They are back to basics. More extravagant ideas can wait for a brighter day.